


I'll Wait

by STARSdidathing



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Cryogenics, Established Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, Immortality, Light Angst, Loki Feels, Loki Gets a Hug, Loki Needs a Hug, Loki-centric, M/M, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Post-Thor: The Dark World, Romantic Fluff, Tony Feels, Waiting, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 15:36:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5791021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/pseuds/STARSdidathing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anthony was all Loki needed to be happy and if that meant bowing and scraping in front of Odin and Thor all for the sake of one plan, one desperate attempt to gain them both the happiness they craved? Loki would gladly kneel as many times as he needed. He would also agree to Anthony's insane plan and the use of his Jotun abilities to do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Wait

**Author's Note:**

> I've been toying with this drabble for a while so I wanted to just finish the stupid thing and get it posted, haha. I liked the premise of it. The idea that gaining immortality for Tony might not be something easy and the work of a few days mucking around on Asgard...
> 
> Hope you like!

“Soon, my love,” Loki whispered, pressing his blue-forehead to the block of ice. He kept his eyes open even though his vision was distorted and Anthony was motionless; devoid of the humour and mischief that he adored, but it was better than not seeing him at all. Loki knew that closing them would lose him the tenuous connection he still held with the other and he was unwilling to do it even for a moment.

_My lovely mortal._

Oh, how he longed to hold him in his arms again, how he _craved_ to hear the other’s voice; to hear something as simple as a request for coffee or the more coveted call of Loki’s name. 

“Soon,” he promised, the words strained and unheard by the man in front of him. The sentiment though, that was all that kept Loki holding on.

He ran his fingertips down the ice, imagining the other’s stubbled face, before he pushed himself away. He scanned the figure for the ten thousandth time since this all began.

“Watch over him,” he told the room.

His own magic crackled in response to the touch he’d extended - making sure the wards were still functioning - while the long familiar voice of Anthony’s AI also assured him, “Of course, Sir.”

Loki skin had already faded back to Aesir pale and Loki did one final sweep of the room to make certain it was secure, lingering even when he knew he needed to leave. It seemed like it was all Loki was doing, snatching a moment and departing a heartbeat later. It had been just over a century of this and the time was beginning to fray him. He returned to Anthony whenever he could slip away; whenever Odin and Thor would take five breaths to focus on something that wasn’t his penitent redemption.

They had been suspicious when he first ventured back, of course, but after so many decades Thor at least thought he was reformed. The Allfather believed he was just desperate to be welcomed back into the house of Odin. They were both ludicrous lies but Loki swallowed his pride and his still seething betrayal all for the sake of one goal, the only _important_ goal. There was only one treasure Loki wanted, one _family_ and one _love_ that he truly desired.

That love was sitting encased in ice.

Anthony’s trust in him warmed every beat of his heart. It kept him from giving up. _One look_ at his lover was all he needed to firm his frustrated resolve. He would consume a thousand insults from Thor, a million lectures from Odin and the disgust of the Aesir if it only gained him one thing. _Anthony_. He was all Loki needed to be happy.

His ridiculous mortal who had heard Loki’s broken confession about being unable to prolong Anthony’s life. Anthony had looked into his eyes and seen the centuries of snapped sanity and irreparable grief that Loki was capable of and had cupped his cheeks and kissed him softly. _'We’ll come up with something.'_

It had taken three months but Anthony had brought a solution to him. _Cryo-freeze,_ Anthony had called it. _Dangerous,_ Loki had insisted, but the alternative had been to lose Anthony to a mortal life-span and neither of them could stand that. So they’d spent two years perfecting the skill and after celebrating his last mortal birthday, Anthony had faked his death and Loki had brought him to Alfheim where he would be safe.

He’d been encased in ice after they’d set up JARVIS.2 and spent three days together. It gave Loki a memory to hold onto in the decades to come and it helped work off Anthony’s anxieties about being trapped and defenceless for so long. Anthony, the brilliant, foolish man who’d kissed Loki softly and let him weave a spell of sleep. He hadn’t wanted Anthony’s last image of him to be his Jotun form. 

_‘I love you in all your forms, Lokes,’_ Anthony had told him, curling around him in their bed and nuzzling his neck, _‘but, okay’_ and Loki had relaxed and they’d both fallen asleep. It had been the last night before he’d been frozen.

Locking him away from the world in ice had been one of the hardest things Loki had ever done.

He was perfectly preserved and safe; watched over by JARVIS.2 and visited as often as was possible by Loki but it still wasn’t enough. It was all they could do, because removing him would accomplish nothing at this point, but they were still apart. Anthony wasn’t by his side with witty commentary and a genius intellect. _Soon_ , he kept telling himself and prayed it would be true.

Anthony’s vitals had, thankfully, maintained a healthy level over the decades and had proven their plan was working. It had given him something further to hold onto as they waited for Loki to present enough loyalty and incur enough favour with Asgard that he could gain just one golden apple. Just _one_ impossible to steal trinket that would allow his love the future together they both craved.

Loki was hoping they would only need to wait a little longer.

Odin was growing tired and had finally agreed to pass the Kingship to Thor. His coronation was in two weeks and unlike in the past, Loki was making sure _everything_ would occur smoothly. Odin was stubborn and unsympathetic to the last, but Thor? He knew what it was like to lose a mortal love. He had lost Jane Foster and his many friends on Midgard over the decades because of Odin’s refusal to allow them an apple.

No one had known of Loki’s involvement with Anthony, nor that he yet lived. Loki just needed to present his case to Thor, of a mortal he wished to share eternity with, and he knew he could gain Thor’s agreement. He just needed the Thunderer to be _King_.

The coronation came and went, mercifully, smoothly. Sif glared at him openly and he _despised_ the idea she might yet become Queen of Asgard, but if everything went to plan, Loki need not ever return to the golden realm. He would happily live among the Elves or travel between the realms with Anthony - and if Anthony wanted to see Thor, well, he’d agree to that as well, but he hoped it would not be for some time. He wanted the mortal to himself for a good while and Asgard far enough away he wouldn’t be tempted to burn it to the ground.

Thankfully though, this time around Thor was not a completely _useless_ prospect for a King. He was quite decent and might, with time and a proper wife to calm and assist him, yet rule the realms justly. It still took Loki three months longer than he wanted of presenting his _unwavering loyalty_ and being a _trusted advisor_ before he could appeal for an apple. 

Thor’s utter shock would have been exceedingly amusing under normal circumstances but Loki was too busy feeling like he was about to crawl out of his skin with worry.

 _'A mortal, truly?'_ he’d asked.

 _'Is that not what I’d just said?'_ and even Thor had been able to hear the anxiousness in his tone. Loki had never been so relieved to see his brother smile softly. Thor’s eyes might have been haunted by his own losses and Loki might even have been sympathetic, but neither of those sentiments were mentioned. Thor clapped his shoulder instead and agreed, wished him luck and demanded to meet the mortal who had stolen Loki’s heart - once, of course, they had spent enough time together celebrating. Loki had smiled with noticeable relief and thanked him, never once correcting the inaccurate pronoun Thor had used nor caring about anything other than _he had agreed_.

He’d returned in a rush to Anthony, barely registering his wards or JARVIS’ voice as he pressed his hands to the ice, letting his skin bleed blue as the encasement around Anthony was removed with painstaking care; Anthony’s vital signs rattled off in the AI’s dulcet tones.

When the last of the ice was water at their feet, Loki caught Anthony under his arms, lifting the mortal effortlessly and carrying him over to the unused bed. He twitched his fingers, cleaning any dust from the bedding and laid the mortal down. The sleeping spell was still functioning; Anthony’s breaths coming out slow and even as Loki quickly healed any muscle deterioration or other minor issues from over a hundred years of sleep.

Loki’s own breath was coming heavy as he shook with the emotions that rushed through him at being able to _touch_ Anthony, at being so close to everything they’d dreamed of. The apple was waiting in his pocket dimension and his lover would be awake with only one snap of a magical thread.

Laying down beside him, Loki curled in close to his lover, pressing their foreheads together and closing his eyes for a moment, drawing himself together before he undid the spell whispering, “Wake up, my love.”

Anthony’s eyelids fluttered and he stirred, shifting on the bed before, for the first time in too many decades, he saw his lover’s beautiful brown eyes. Anthony’s mouth broke out into a wide grin and he brought a hand up to touch Loki’s cheek. “ _Loki_.”

“ _Anthony,_ ” Loki choked out and pulled him into a kiss that the other instantly melted into. They kissed desperately and passionately until Loki was on top of the other and Tony’s arms were wrapped around Loki’s neck, playing with the ponytail of longer hair.

His eyes were laughing with happiness. “This is new. You grew it out.”

Loki pressed their foreheads back together. “Yes. Do you not like it?”

“I didn’t say _that_. I told you,” he kissed the corner of Loki’s mouth, “I love all the forms you come in.” The laugh Loki let out was harsh and painful. Those words had been so long ago for him but the span of a blink for Anthony. “Loki?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.” Anthony eyed him shrewdly but Loki didn’t give him the time to speak. “I have an apple, _your_ apple.” He stroked Anthony’s face. “Everything we suffered and waited through will cease to matter because you will be _mine_ and I will be _yours_.”

 _Without the barrier of mortal life between us_ , went unsaid but was still heard hanging in the air between them.

Anthony kept stroking his cheekbone, but there was something worried in his eyes. “How long did it take you, Loki?” Loki’s eyes flicked to the side but Anthony pressed, “This all started because you knew it would take longer than my mortal life to complete. How _long_ were you waiting?”

“One hundred and twenty eight of your years,” Loki admitted.

“ _Fuck,_ ” Anthony hissed and pulled him down for another kiss; softer and tender. “Are you okay?”

Loki kissed him again. “I have you now, Anthony,” he laughed lightly, joyously and like the weight of every day apart had disappeared entirely. “For this moment, I could not have cared if it was twenty decades more,” he cut off Anthony’s protest with his lips, “ _but_ , I am glad it was not. I have missed you so dearly, my love.”

“I dreamt, you know,” Anthony told him, “it’s a fucked up jumble but it was _all you_. I could have waited forever too, but I’m glad we didn’t have to.” He smiled and lightly pushed Loki back with a hand to his shoulder. “Come on, we’ve come this far, we better get the reward we deserve.” He waggled his eyebrows, humorous even though the moment was so much more than that. “No refractory period.”

Loki rolled his eyes even while making the twisting motions of his hands that would allow the golden apple to appear in the middle of the air. He cupped it and held it out to Anthony, the tiniest tremble in his limbs but Anthony didn’t even hesitate. He took the apple, leaning forward to steal a kiss as he did, Loki pressing forward and extending what had intended to be chaste.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Anthony promised against his mouth before pulling back. “You’ve got me to the end of time. I’m all yours, babe.”

He punctuated the statement with a large bite of an apple that had taken too many years to achieve, but was utterly worth every second. Their lives had been stuck, frozen, as they waited for a way to be with the other, but they were nothing if not stubborn.

A century apart meant the lifetime of an Immortal together.

Eating even the core of the fruit - prompted by Loki who couldn’t sit idle and was instead stroking Anthony all over as he ate - Anthony finished with a flourish. Loki pressed a harsh kiss to his neck before laying him down on the bed, covering his body and beginning to devour every inch he’d been deprived of. 

They had spent too long apart, too long waiting for one benevolent gesture to allow them to be together. They now had what they wanted and had absolutely no plans on wasting even one more breath of it.


End file.
